Paint bucket holder



' Jan. 16, 1945. E. M. ATKINS PAINT BUCKET HOLDER Filed Dec; 17, 1945 IIII 'III I .Patented Jan. 16, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAINT BUCKET HOLDER Elmer M. Atkins, Zion, ;ni. Application December 17, 1943, Serial No. 514,723 1 Claim. (01. 248-210) This invention relates to a painter's bucket or can holder, and the primary object of the invention'is the provision of an inexpensive and emcient holder for the purpose specified which may be readily applied to either of the side members of a ladder or to a scaffold and to which various size buckets or cans may be adapted and securely gripped thereby and supported in an upright position regardless of the inclination the ladder may be made to assume in supporting a person in painting position for a selected area, consequently eliminating the possibility of the paint spilling and also arranging the bucket or can readily accessible for the person to obtain paint on the brush without being interfered with by a handle or carrying medium the bucket or can may be equipped with.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating a holder for a paint bucket or can and showing the holder adapted to a fragmentary portion ofa ladder.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 -2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-3 01' Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates a substantially L shaped member which when in use on a ladder or scafl'old provides a vertical portion 6 and a horizontal portion 1. The vertical portion 6 is of the greatest length ing buckets or cans of difierent heights when the latter are'positioned on the horizontal portion 'l 01' the l. shaped member I.

, The horizontal portion 7- of the. L shaped memmore fully v I tions I8 having their extremities her is provided with a slot l3 to receive a bolt It equipped with a wing nut IS. The bolt I4 extends through a stem portion l6 of a substantially Y shaped member I! which includes diverging porbent angularly to extend vertically, as shown at I9, to engage with the bucket or can. Flanges 20 are formed on the stem portion I 6 and slidably receive therebetween the portion 1 of the L shaped member. The slot I3 permits the substantially U-shaped member I! to be adjusted endwise of the horizontal portion 1 of the L shaped member 5 for bringing the extremities l9 into engagement with walls of the bucket or can. The extremities l9 coopate with the offset end l2 of the plate II in securely fastening.the can or bucket on the L shaped member and provide a construction whereby buckets or cans of difierent heights and diameters may be readily secured in place on the L shaped member.

The vertical portion 6 of the L shaped member is connected to a clamp 20 by a pivot 2|. The pivot 2| is located closer to the free end of the vertical portion 6 than the formation of the horizontal portion 1 on the vertical portion so that, the greatestload carried by the L shaped and adjacent its free end is equipped with a bolt 1 member will be disposed below the pivot, consequently causing the L shaped member to always assume a position wherein the portion 1 is arranged horizontally and the portion 6 is disposed vertically. This will prevent the bucket or can from ever taking on a position wherein there would be danger of spilling the contents of the can or bucket when the clamp is applied to a support such as a scaffold or a ladder 22, as shown inFigure 1. g

The clamp 20 includes a substantially U shaped member 23 providing a connecting 'portion and parallel portions, the connecting portion having the pivot 2| connected thereto. One of the parallel portions of the U shaped member 23 has threaded therein a feed stem 24 carrying a finger piece 25 at one end and having Journaled to its opposite end a clamp plate 26 to cooperate with one of the parallel portions 01' the substantially U shaped member 23 in grippin either of the side members of the ladder 22. In adapting the clamp 20 to the ladder as shown, it ispreferable that the stem 24 of the clamp be located on the side of the ladder opposite to the side occupied by the painter. The clamp when applied to the ladder as shown, positions the bucket or can out of the way 01' the person using the ladder and as the pivot 2| permits the L shaped member to swing freely, the ladder may be placed into vari.

ous inclined positions to permit easy painting of a selected area 01' a building or the like without danger of the bucket or can tipping and spilling its contents. The bucket or can being supported outwardly of the ladder construction, arranges the mouth of the bucket or can so that the painter may readily dip the brush into the paint whenever need therefor occurs.

The L shaped member 5 may have an opening 50' located below the opening in which the bolt 8 ,is shown extending through, so that when a smaller or quart size container is arranged on the device, the bolt 8 may be positioned through the opening it thereby quickly lowering the plate H to engage said container and eliminate the necessity of making the slot l0 thereof unduly long.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what i claim is:

' menace In a holder, a substantially L shaped member providing normally a vertically arranged portion and a horizontally arranged portion, ladder clamping means plvotally connected to the vertical portion of'the L shaped member closer to the free end of the vertical portion than to the horizontal portion and adapted to be applied to the side rail of a ladder, a substantially V shaped member adjustably secured in a horizontal position to the horizontal portion of the L shaped member and adapted to support a container thereon, and means carried by the vertical portion of the L shaped member for engaging the upper edge of the container, said Y shaped member including a shank portion having depending flanges at its side edges adapted to receive therebetween the horizontal portion of the L shaped member to prevent turning of the Y shaped member on said horizontal portion, and said Y shaped member further including diverging portion having upturned ends adapted to retain the container in position thereon.

' ELMER M. ATKINS. 

